The book that inspired my love of pancakes for dinner.

Confession: I have not been inspired in the kitchen lately.

Mostly because the majority of my free time has been spent with my nose buried in a book. Reading has taken over my life and I’ve been cooking just to survive. We eat really boring non-blog worthy things like spaghetti and stir-fry and pancakes for dinner (although my kids are big supporters of this option). Oh, and Cafe Rio.

I’ve discovered the wondrous beauty of the Las Vegas Library District and I am in bookworm heaven. Seriously, the libraries here are the best I have ever seen. By far, my favorite thing about the valley.

Why so great? Because of how integrated everything is. You can request books online from other neighborhood branches and can pick them up at your local library. This makes the selection endless.  And easy. There’s self checkout. Friendly librarians. Great kid areas with puzzles and a gazillion books. It’s free.

Oh, and the 50 book limit doesn’t hurt too. At this very moment I have *ahem* 12 holds, 2 ready to pick up and 38 books currently check out. Sheeeeesh. Don’t worry, not all these books are for my perusal. (I haven’t completely ignored my family.) My kids contribute to that large stash too.

We’ve discovered some of my old favorites like Nate the Great (the inspiration for our meal of pancakes) and the funny illustrations of James Marshall. The kids have found current-day books to lose themselves too, like anything Star Wars for my three-year-old and my big girl is getting her feet wet with Ivy + Bean.

If anyone was to ask me at this very moment how I like living here, I would jump up and shout, “It’s great! I have access to a lot of books!”

The tourists may think the Las Vegas is all about the Strip (and food), but this local knows it’s all about the library (and still food). (Also, can I consider myself a local yet?)

I’ve been reading not just for my enjoyment, but for research too. Writing a book, a book for middle grade kids, has been on my bucket list for a long time. You know, it’s one of those things I wanted to do when I grew up and it’s about time I consider myself an adult. I’ve been fooling around with a particular story idea for a year now, and this is the year I’m going to actually write it down. And keep on writing.

So, for this month please excuse me if I don’t post much about food. (Not that I’ve been blogging very regularly anyway.) I’m making a short term goal to write 1,500 words a day for the next 31 days. This way, I can at least force myself to complete my first draft — no matter how awful it is. I’m going to blog my daily progress just so I can be accountable for this endeavor. Feel free to hold me responsible!

Word count so far today: 1015

485 words to go!